6 Answers
6

If you want to just move your home directory i.e /home/your-username then simply copy your home directory to other partition and then use System->Administration->Users & Groups to open user settings dialog. Click on the keys icon to authenticate your self

After that select the user that you want to change and click properties, go to advanced tab

change the home directory to new directory i.e the directory that you copied to other partition.

Indeed. it is a great way to easily change the home directory location of a specific user. While reading the question, I was understanding that this would have been for the /home directory globally. In this case, you could create the partition on the other device, manually move all files there and then change the device for the mount point in /etc/fstab file itself.
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jfmessierJan 13 '11 at 13:09

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@jfmessier: you should make that an answer rather than a comment!
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SkizzJan 13 '11 at 15:19

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If you're copying your home directory with 'cp' on the command line, you'd better use 'cp -rPa *' : r for recursive, P for not following links, a for preserving ownership and permission flags.
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drevickoFeb 28 '12 at 11:20

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Unity in 13.04 has no "Users & Groups", just a "Users" setting that does not include these options. Can you mention the corresponding terms for Unity in 13.04?
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Torben Gundtofte-BruunAug 8 '13 at 21:57

Indeed. it is a great way to easily change the home directory location of a specific user. While reading the question, I was understanding that this would have been for the /home directory globally. In this case, you could create the partition on the other device, manually move all files there and then change the device for the mount point in /etc/fstab file itself

Moving HOME from command line

To avoid side effects while working in a graphical environment we should perform all actions to move HOME from a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+F1.

Temporarily mount the new partition:

sudo mkdir /mnt/tmp
sudo mount /dev/sdb1/ /mnt/tmp

assuming /sdb1 is the new partition for HOME

Copy HOME to the new location:

sudo rsync -avx /home/ /mnt/tmp

We then may mount the new partition as HOME with sudo mount /dev/dsb1 /home to make sure all data are present. Easiest is to delete the old /home at this point (you could do this later but then you will have to boot a live system to see the old home):

sudo umount /home #unmount the new home first!
rm -rf /home/* #deletes the old home

Make HOME permanent

We need to know the UUID of the new partition for the fstab entry seen from:

sudo blkid

Note or copy/paste the correct UUID to edit your fstab with

sudo nano /etc/fstab #or any other editor

and add the following line at the end:

UUID=<noted number from above> /home ext4 defaults 0 2

Take care to choose the appropriate filesystem here, e.g. ext3 if ext3 formatted

Reboot

After a reboot your /home resides on the new drive having plenty of space.

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.
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Eliah KaganJan 6 '13 at 0:51

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! ;-) We're very sorry, but there is a reason why new users cannot comment everywhere: get to know the site, take the tour, review the editing help, read some questions and answers and if you see a problem you've encountered before and know the answer to, go for it!
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FabbyFeb 22 at 22:11

This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post - you can always comment on your own posts, and once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post.
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David FoersterFeb 22 at 22:30

@Fabby I feel I am failing to see where this is not an answer.. Did I miss something?
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Seth♦Feb 24 at 4:27

@Seth: the OP asked to move his home directory. This just creates the false impression that it was moved... It's just a bind that leaves everything where it is.
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FabbyFeb 24 at 4:58